TO LEARN MORE

One by one, the young ballet dancers excitedly enter the large, rectangular studio with mirrors and balance bars along the walls. Their faces are alight with joy, and they begin to dance — their pink and black ballet shoes slowly lifting their bodies upward. The majestic sound of the live piano travels about the room and falls into perfect rhythm with the dancers’ movements.

A pair of eyes watches them closely, and the voice of a woman with a lifetime of experience instructs them. Her name is Shirley Blackburn.

Just weeks ago, the Metro Council honored Blackburn for her service to the community through the dance division of the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation. For more than 40 years, her passion for teaching has reached countless individuals who may not have otherwise been exposed to dance.

For Blackburn, dance became an important part of her life at a very young age.

“Like most children who dance for the first time, my mother signed me up for dance lessons,” said Blackburn, who said she loved dancing so much that she continued with lessons all through high school in the Carolinas and eventually graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., with a degree in dance and from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a degree in English.

Blackburn moved to Nashville in 1969 and took a summer job with the dance program at Metro Parks, which turned into a full-time teaching position in 1972. In 1995, Blackburn became supervisor over the dance division. At that time, there were five full-time, two part-time and five freelance teachers. Throughout the years, Blackburn has taught hundreds of students.

Looking back, Blackburn recalled some of the obstacles she encountered during her journey. Before the 1980s, Metro Dance taught all over the city with a large staff, offering a wide variety of free dance lessons in addition to ballet, including modern, jazz, tap, belly dance and musical theater. However, there were drastic budget cuts after federal money was diverted from the arts to environmental education. Blackburn noted how the number of dance instructors dropped to only four full-time employees, including herself, and about three part-time. Now, only ballet classes are offered.

As funds decreased for teaching supplies and costumes for performances, Blackburn saw the need to turn somewhere other than Metro for support.

“So the dance division formed a nonprofit, Friends of Metro Dance — they raised money to supplement what parks cannot do,” Blackburn said. “So they have paid for all the equipment that you see in these studios — the harlequin floors, a lot of the pianos, all the customs, the bars, the CD players.

“They have been our lifeline to keeping the program alive.”

Today there are fees for all classes, but Blackburn said they are designed to make dance education affordable.

“I think one thing that makes the program unique is that anybody — whether or not that child is talented, has any real ability — can come take class here for a reasonable amount of money, have a benefit of experiencing a performance and wearing a costume and seeing what it feels like to be on the stage without having to spend thousands and thousands of dollars a year to do it,” Blackburn. said

Fees range from $80 to $320 for a 12-week semester, depending on age and how frequently the student visits every week. Lessons take place in three studios at Centennial and McCabe parks.

“The Mini Nutcracker,” Metro Dance’s signature ballet, began in 1981. The performance takes place every year during the first weekend in December. In addition, Metro Dance hosts a spring concert each year in April. While this spring’s ballet is still being decided, students have performed “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Coppélia” and “Paquita” in the past.

As a dance instructor, Blackburn notes how Metro Dance has taught her students valuable life lessons.

“A lot of the lessons that children who stick with dance learn are hard life lessons,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t get the roles that they want and they have to learn to deal with the disappointment, and it’s not easy.”

Blackburn also stressed the importance of working as a team and being on time.

Former ballet student Emily Berry said, “We were there to learn and to enjoy ourselves and take something away. She planted such a strong foundation, and the fact that she has spent that many years teaching as many kids as she has is truly something to be admired.”

Many of Blackburn’s students went on to pursue professional careers in dance and as dance instructors. Michal Christian, one such student, said of Blackburn: “Her tireless work ethics, her attention to detail, her pursuit of excellence, but most important her passion for training the next generation of dancers — it’s an inspiration to me as a teacher.”

Christian dances professionally and teaches at The School of Nashville Ballet and Rejoice School of Ballet.

Blackburn retired last year on March 1, but she continues to teach.

“I felt like, after 40 years, I needed to spend a little less time at work,” she said with a chuckle. “But I didn’t want to give up the teaching.”

Blackburn looks to relinquish administrative responsibilities and teach a lighter class load in the future. Kathryn Wilkening has recently taken over as the new director.

The Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association has recognized the Metro Parks’ Dance Division for quality creative arts programming. The Tennessee Association of Dance awarded Blackburn the Margaret Martin Award in 2003 for creating more dance opportunities for children in Nashville.